Ifafa I

From the V series of lithographs, Ifafa I is one of the set based on the stripe paintings of the Notched V Paintings 1964-65 . Departing from the off-centred composition and standardized dimensions of the album series, the two, three and four part clusters of chevrons in the V series are centred and accomodated on varying sizes of horizontal sheets.

Color schemes in the prints, not congruent in every instance with those of the paintings, were derived in part from the Star of Persia series. Although printed on white Lowell paper rather than English Vellum Graph paper, the V series is in effect an extension of the Star of Persia series and a continuation of Stella's use of metallic inks.

British and American clipper ships, fast moving transport vessels, dominated the high seas during the middle decades of the nineteenth century. The three-masted, square rigged clipper ship gained its name for along at record speeds, made possible with a sleek hull that sliced through the water, to which the chevron shape of the prints alludes.

All of the ships named in the V series were built in Great Britain; the Empress of India 1890 was a passenger and mail carrying ocean-liner - steam and sail driven - that was clipper-bowed in her design for increased speed.